Circular red cloth UNRRA badge worn by a former US soldier as Area Administrator for Germany
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)
Creator(s)
- Mordecai E. Schwartz (Subject)
Biographical History
Mordecai E. Schwartz had a college degree in business adminstration and was fluent in six languages when he enlisted in the United States Army in 1942. After the war ended in May 1945, he was stationed in Munich, Germany, and was recruited by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). He requested and was granted a European discharge from the US Army and became the Area Director for UNRRA in the US Zone in Germany from 1945 to 1948. Upon the deactivation of UNRRA in 1948, he was transferred and made Area Director for the International Refugee Organization (IRO), supervising twenty-eight displaced persons camps in Germany. The displaced persons camps were set up to house and feed, and to provide medical service, and legal protection for survivors of the concentration and slave labor camps, and to offer them the chance to reestablish their lives postwar. When IRO was deactivated in 1951, Mordecai was recruited by US Air Force Intelligence in Munich and served in their worldwide operations until his retirement with highest honors.
Archival History
The UNRRA badge was donated to the United States Hocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 by Mordecai E. Schwartz.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mordecai E. Schwartz
Scope and Content
UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) red circle patch worn by Mordecai E. Schwart. Schwartz, a soldier in the United States Army, was recruited after the war ended in May 1945 to serve as Area Director for UNRRA. He worked for UNRRA until 1948, when the organization was deactivated. He then became Area Director for the International Refugee Organization (IRO), supervising twenty-eight displaced persons camps in Germany. The DP camps were set up to house and feed, and to provide medical service and legal protection for survivors of the concentration and slave labor camps, and to offer them the chance to reestablish their lives postwar. When IRO was deactivated in 1951, Mordecai was recruited by US Air Force Intelligence.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Circular red cloth badge with stitching in gold thread depicting the globe superimposed with the acronym UNRRA.
Corporate Bodies
- United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief--Personal narratives, American.
- Jewish refugees--Germany--Biography.
- Jewish soldiers--United States--Biography.
- Soldiers--United States--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Germany--Personal narratives, American.
Genre
- Identifying Artifacts
- Object